Bonding Experience
by Lady Laran
Summary: Story written for a competition on Deviant Art.  Short and sweet shot into a moment with L and his successors.


Author's Note: I've written this little story for DeathNoteFansClub on Deviant Art. We signed up, and the moderator gave us a phrase or word to write or draw on. The phrase I got was "trick or treat."

This is AU. I kind of tweaked ages a bit to make this work. It's post-Kira. L won and now he's focusing on what's important. I hope you all enjoy this!

Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note nor the other characters that fall under the ownership of other companies. I do not make money from this story. All I somewhat can lay claim to is the plot wombat that the contest generated.

_**Bonding Experience**_

Whammy shook his head as he watched the young man in front of him. It was hard to believe L had volunteered for this and even more difficult to believe that the normally reclusive male had even come up with the idea.

"Are you sure about this?"

Dark eyes looked up into his, and the detective gave a soft nod before answering his mentor and caretaker.

"I am. I realized that they need to get to know me better and I them. Reading reports and the occasionally phone call or video conference is not enough."

The inventor nodded. His charge had learned a lot over the course of the Kira Investigation. For the first time, L had come face to face with his own mortality and that had changed the young man in a lot of ways. Though he still worked behind computers and masked voices, L had started to shed the barriers between himself, his mentor, and a certain trio of children that were handpicked to possibly follow his footsteps in the future.

If he was honest with himself, the investigation had changed him as well. Whammy had realized that shortly after their return to England and had embraced his own changes, letting them mold him into a stronger better person.

"I'll do the driving then," he said softly. "I just hope you know what you're getting into, L."

A small half smile was given to Whammy as the genius answered him.

"So do I."

Whammy chuckled, making that smile remain before L continued with his answer.

"To be honest, Whammy, this little excursion will give me a chance to see how the three react in each others presence. Roger's reports tend to be vague at best or too quick to find fault with one and not the others."

The elderly man frowned at that. Roger was great at certain aspects of running the home but not all of them. He and L had discussed the issue, debating on various ideas to take some of the pressure off of Roger and find someone who had a more parental approach to dealing with the children within the walls of Whammy's.

"Especially with those three in particular."

Again, there was that small smile. Granted, L wasn't close to the three children in question but he was willing to do what it took to build that bond.

The soft padding of feet pulled the men's attention away from the conversation and towards the arrival of one of the children they'd been discussing.

Matt entered the room first, fidgeting with his costume. L had done a bit of research into the boys' likes and dislikes, ordering costumes for all three that he felt would suit each of them. Whammy had to agree that Matt's seemed to compliment him rather well.

The red head was dressed as Sephiroth from one of the Final Fantasy games, full outfit complete with wig. He looked incredible, Whammy thought to himself with a smile as Matt posed for the two of them.

"What do you think?"

L nodded in satisfaction. He had definitely chosen well for Matt's attire and hoped the other two would be just as pleasing.

"The costume suits you admirably, Matt. Do you like it?"

The grin he was given made the detective relax a bit more. This was new to him and to know he'd done this well so far made him feel very pleased with himself.

"Then I am glad for it."

Another set of footsteps drew their attention and soon, Mello entered the room. He was dressed as Sherlock Holmes, complete with cap and trench coat. It was a little known fact that the blond was an avid reader of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and devoured the books over and over again.

"This is so cool!"

Matt laughed at Mello's exclamation, happy to see his best friend looking so relaxed and eager to have fun.

"You look great, Mells."

Mello grinned at him, then adjusted his cap and struck a pose reminiscent of what one would see during a Sherlock Holmes movie.

"Thank you my dear Matt," he said in a smooth tone before cracking up into boyish giggles. The laughter lightened the hearts of the others, making the two older men relax even more and made Whammy smile.

The next set of footsteps were a bit more hesitant, indicating his final heir was on his way towards them. Near's costume had been a bit more difficult for L as Near was more the non-fiction type as far as reading went and barring one specific program, the white haired boy was more interested in his own imagination than watching television. It had taken some digging before L had come up with the perfect costume for the youngest of his heirs, and he was quite pleased with it.

"And there's the sheep," was the almost sneered comment from Mello. He blanched when given a cool look from his idol. It was obvious that L didn't appreciate the snide remark, and a verbal rebuke wasn't necessary given how good the detective was with his facial expressions.

A few seconds later, the smallest of his heirs arrived, clad in his costume. Given Near's fascination with toy robots as well as the well loved television program, Doctor Who, L had chosen to have a Cyberman costume created for the white haired child. Looking at him now, it was blatantly obvious that the choice had been a perfect one.

"Whoa."

Matt's eyes were huge. It was obvious L had gone to great lengths to have their costumes custom made, and Near's was just incredible.

"Indeed," came the response from Whammy. He was pleased with the children's reactions to their apparel for the night, and L was close to smiling when he watched the three.

"Picture time and then we'll go," the older man told the group, grabbing a camera to do just that. L didn't protest it, knowing only a few copies would be made. One for him, one for Whammy, and one for each of the children to treasure.

Mello bounced impatiently once the photos were taken. It was obvious all three were very eager to go, though Near's excitement was well contained.

"Are we ready? Can we go please?"

Whammy chuckled and looked at L, who nodded and slipped his feet into his battered tennis shoes.

"Let's go trick or treating then. I believe there are a lot of houses to go by."

Matt and Mello cheered, and Near slipped his helmet under his arm and gave his mentor a nod, telling the older men he was ready as well.

L opened the front door of the massive house, gesturing for the boys to come with him towards the car.

"The night awaits us."

Yes, tonight would definitely be a bonding experience, the elderly man mused to himself as the young ones hurried to the vehicle. Trick or treating was a rowdy experience and with L in the car, it would be even more so given all four of them were sugar addicts. However, these memories would be something special for all of them as life progressed and Whammy was happy to be a part of it.

Author's End Note - A little story, nothing too fancy. I might come back later and add more chapters but I wanted to caption a brief moment of L and the kids together with Whammy. I hope you enjoyed it!


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